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Growing up during the Evangelical heyday of purity rings and the Left Behind  book series, I heard many things about faith and God, including the old adage that the Lord works in mysterious ways. But there's no mystery why the religious film “On a Wing and a Prayer” fails to take off. It falls short of the glory of competent filmmaking and gorges on cheap sentimentally and cliches, undermining its own message. The best preachers always know how to tell a story and tie it back to a Biblical lesson, but director Sean McNamara has less than a youth pastor’s grasp on his main character’s crisis of faith. 

Based on the true story of the family who survived a similar ordeal, “On a Wing and a Prayer” follows Doug White ( Dennis Quaid ), a dutiful husband to Terri ( Heather Graham ), dad to his two girls Maggie ( Jessi Case ) and Bailey (Abigail Rhyne), a loving brother to Jeff ( Brett Rice ), a friendly neighborhood pharmacist, a budding pilot, and a proud Louisiana resident. He is a man of faith whose religion is shaken by the sudden death of his brother. Looking to pick his spirits up on Easter Sunday, Terri talks the pilot of their next flight into letting Doug sit in the co-pilot seat up front. It’s blue skies as far as the eyes can see—until their pilot slumps in his seat, dead. Now it’s up to Doug to protect his family and get them back to earth with a little help from Divine Intervention and some well-timed radio and phone calls to get the worldly coaching he needs to fly his plane. 

McNamara, who previously ventured into religious movie waters with “ Soul Surfer ,” boils the premise down to familiar beats and motifs. The grieving patriarch who turns his back on God course-corrects back onto his religious tracks when facing doom. A control tower worker named Dan ( Rocky Myers ) struggles with alcohol and chasing women until the events of that day and magically reforms by nightfall. A couple in Connecticut, Kari ( Jesse Metcalfe ) and Ashley ( Anna Enger Ritch) are on their way to a breakup when they instead team up to avoid disaster. Nothing is surprising or interesting about these shallow one-note stories. We know where they’re going because screenwriter Brian Egeston ’s dialogue painstakingly overexplains what’s happening as we’re watching it happen, and because some moments of the movie have all the acting and visual finesse of a Hallmark Channel movie. If you missed the earlier signs, maybe the obvious music cues will help: “Spirit in the Sky” accompanies take off, and then a cover of Leonard Cohen ’s “Hallelujah” is used in the film's climax. 

My frustrations with “On a Wing and a Prayer” go beyond its simplistic “1+1=2” screenwriting, cheap visual effects, and cable-ready cinematography. McNamara and Egeston don’t trust the suspense of their story to work on its own, so other issues are thrown into the mix, like a surprise storm; a random allergic reaction; and a precocious aspiring aviatrix named Donna ( Raina Grey ) and her clueless but enthusiastic friend, Buggy ( Trayce Malachi ), who spend much of their screentime explaining the air control tower jargon and how they’re doing it wrong. These are not characters; they are storytelling devices at their most obvious and annoying. At one point, as the kids are following the potential disaster, Donna says that she wants to become a pilot like her dad “Because one time after science class, Mr. Jones said I couldn’t.” The moment feels wildly glib, like the filmmakers tried to shoe-horn in a girl interested in airplanes because the rest of the women in the cast are just along for the ride. 

By high school, I felt there was no place for me in the church. Women were supposed to be their husband’s greatest supporters, but where was the reciprocated effort for wives’ ambitions? Giving God our best would never be enough because we, as girls then and later women, were not meant to lead. This sentiment is subtly echoed in “On a Wing and a Prayer.” When things look bad, and Doug is starting to give up hope, Terri prays, holds his hand, and jumps in the co-pilot seat to help him. When Terri prays with her daughters on the plane, she says she wants to see them grow up, get married, and have their own kids and then tacks on, “Whatever they want to do,” because our plans come third after taking care of marriage and family. Ashley’s greatest contribution to the story is that she suggests and then helps Kari build a cockpit in their garage so he can guide Doug with exact instructions. I know it’s Doug who’s going through the spiritual journey, but these women are on their own paths as well, even if this story doesn’t acknowledge their full existence. 

“On a Wing and a Prayer” is a simple thriller with a last-minute final message delivered by an apparition: “let go,” a lesson that’s not really mentioned before. But this movie is no fine-tuned sermon. Everything in this film moves forward on a predictable trajectory that won’t challenge or overextend viewers. Each mini-story neatly resolves itself before the credits roll and the photo montage of real-life people with their on-screen counterparts begins. Then thankfully, the ordeal is over for all.

On Prime Video now.  

Monica Castillo

Monica Castillo is a critic, journalist, programmer, and curator based in New York City. She is the Senior Film Programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center and a contributor to  RogerEbert.com .

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On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)

Rated PG for peril, some language, suggestive references and thematic elements.

102 minutes

Dennis Quaid as Doug White

Heather Graham as Terri White

Jesse Metcalfe as Jesse White

Abbey Rhyne as Bailey White

Jessi Case as Maggie White

Brett Rice as Jeff White

Rocky Myers as Dan Favio

Selena Anduze as Lisa Grimm

E. Roger Mitchell as Brian Norton

• Sean McNamara
• Brian Egeston

Cinematographer

• Christian Sebaldt
• Jeff Canavan
• Brandon Roberts

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On a Wing and a Prayer Reviews

This may be a true story, but its drama veers closer to Airplane!-like hysterics and parody of faith-tested films down to song choices and all the references to Heather Graham's special sauce.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Jun 15, 2023

On a Wing and a Prayer never justifies the scale and scope of film as its form, operating more like a high-budget TED Talk.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.8/10 | Jun 2, 2023

Dull faith-based film.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Apr 19, 2023

Because so much of this plays out like a made-for-TV movie, it’s hard to feel many of the emotions.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 19, 2023

At times, the script inadvertently approaches slapstick Airplane! territory, while a subplot that ends with two children cycling onto the runway is just daft.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 18, 2023

The promise of a "true" story drags you into the film and turns your emotions loose. Quaid has found his director person in Sean McNamara.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 17, 2023

Throw in slow-mo as the go-to whenever something potentially really emotional is about to happen and the end result is a real cinematic trainwreck.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Apr 13, 2023

Donna might be an overall irritant, but at least one of her comments sums up the movie pretty well. At a particularly discouraging moment in the White family flight, when everything looks bleak, she observes, “This is, like, so bad."

Full Review | Original Score: D | Apr 13, 2023

I hope your family gets to experience this prayerful, moving film together and come out with a smile on your face and a little more faith in your heart.

Full Review | Apr 13, 2023

Chalk this up to a predictable outcome and some heavy-handed faith-based messages and anthems wedged into On a Wing and a Prayer.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 12, 2023

It’s a film glorifying someone who thinks they’ve made God their steering wheel when, instead, they’ve really just relied on God as a spare tire. While a halfway competent disaster film, it takes a nosedive when shoehorning in its faith-based component.

Full Review | Apr 10, 2023

Like Airplane! except with unintentional humor, this faith-based chronicle of airborne heroism never gets off the ground.

Full Review | Apr 8, 2023

Terrible writing and corny dialogue cause this otherwise inspiring story to stall in mid flight.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 7, 2023

[On a Wing and a Prayer] falls short of the glory of competent filmmaking and gorges on cheap sentimentally and cliches, undermining its own message.

On a Wing and a Prayer is incredibly flat-looking and visual choices like recurring split-screens only inspire giggles, rather than the sense of dread you'd expect.

Full Review | Apr 7, 2023

On a Wing and a Prayer gets off to a rocky start but once it finds its wings it becomes a pretty smooth flight. Yes, it can be a little preachy at times, but the tension of the flight itself is well done.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 7, 2023

On a Wing and a Prayer has so much going for it. It’s a shame the script is such an awful mess.

[Sean] McNamara’s largely inept direction, coupled with Brian Egeston’s heavy-handed screenplay that touches on the crisis of faith and religion often resulted in a series of painfully histrionic moments.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 7, 2023

Sticks to the essentials of panic...a mostly lean, procedural endeavor with occasional questioning of God’s way.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Apr 6, 2023

I was baffled that a movie about an average joe with minimal flight experience, who was forced to to land a plane after the pilot died of a heart attack, could be so boring.

Full Review | Original Score: D- | Apr 6, 2023

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On a wing and a prayer.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 4 Reviews
• Kids Say 0 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

True faith-based tale has scares but little suspense.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that On a Wing and a Prayer is based on the true story of a Christian family from Louisiana whose pilot on a private jet died mid-flight, leaving the inexperienced father of the family (Dennis Quaid) to bravely fly the plane and land it safely. There are plenty of potentially stressful…

Why Age 10+?

A family's pilot dies mid-flight, and their inexperienced father has to land the

Sexual flirting and innuendo between a married couple and two singles at a bar.

Brands seen/used include Pabst Blue Ribbon, the Bible, Cessna, King Air, LSU, ai

Adults drink alcohol at a community barbeque and in bars. A character drinks hea

"Suck," "butt."

Any Positive Content?

Spiritual faith can help see you through difficult times and the passing of love

Doug and Terri love their kids and extended family. They teach their kids to be

The main characters are all White Christian Southerners. Two of the essential ai

Violence & Scariness

A family's pilot dies mid-flight, and their inexperienced father has to land the plane. They fly into bad weather, take a nosedive, miss a landing, and have a dangerous amount of fuel on board. Two people have heart attacks, and one person has an allergic reaction, passes out, and has to be shot with an Epi-Pen. A character lost his family in a plane crash.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sexual flirting and innuendo between a married couple and two singles at a bar. The woman at the bar suggests the man is trying to get her into bed. The married couple also kisses and collapses together onto their bed.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Brands seen/used include Pabst Blue Ribbon, the Bible, Cessna, King Air, LSU, airline brands, NTSB, USAF.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink alcohol at a community barbeque and in bars. A character drinks heavily and wakes up with a hangover. He's asked about whether he has alcohol in his system when he shows up to work, and he appears to give up drinking by the end of the movie.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Spiritual faith can help see you through difficult times and the passing of loved ones. Believe in God and "let go." Believe in yourself and others. Grief passes. Sometimes it's OK to bend the rules.

Positive Role Models

Doug and Terri love their kids and extended family. They teach their kids to be humble and respectful, and the family takes leftover food to those who are unhoused. Doug is questioning his faith after losing his brother; Terri's faith in God "getting us through" and trusting in "things you can't see" never wavers. People rally to help lead the main characters to safety. Doug demonstrates courage in what he undertakes.

Diverse Representations

The main characters are all White Christian Southerners. Two of the essential air traffic controllers are Black in the film, but end credits show that the people they play are both White in real life -- as all the other real people involved in this story appear to be. In the film, two local kids are witnessing the events: One is a White girl who wants to be a pilot because her male science teacher said she couldn't be; the other is a Black boy.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Parents need to know that On a Wing and a Prayer is based on the true story of a Christian family from Louisiana whose pilot on a private jet died mid-flight, leaving the inexperienced father of the family ( Dennis Quaid ) to bravely fly the plane and land it safely. There are plenty of potentially stressful/tense scenes of the plane bouncing in the clouds, taking a nosedive, and missing its landing, as well as talk of not surviving. The younger daughter has a medical emergency on the flight (and the family has also recently lost a member to a heart attack), but ultimately, you know that the family will be OK. There's some sexual innuendo and kissing; language is limited to "suck" and "butt." One character drinks too much. Messages stress the power of faith, and the characters pray for their safety. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (4)

Based on 4 parent reviews

Amazing true story

What's the story.

At the start of ON A WING AND A PRAYER, it's Easter 2009, and Doug and Terri White ( Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham ) are flying home from Doug's brother's (Brett Rice) funeral with their two daughters (Abigail Rhyne and Jessi Case). Shortly after taking off in a small plane, their pilot (Wilbur Fitzgerald) dies of a heart attack. It's up to Doug, with Terri's support, to fly the plane safely to land, avoiding a major storm that's brewing off the coast. Doug has some flying experience, but not much -- and he's never been very good at landing. Helping him on the ground are a handful of experienced air traffic controllers, including the hungover Dan Favio (Rocky Myers), and one flight instructor ( Jesse Metcalfe ) who has experience flying the exact plane Doug and his family are in.

Is It Any Good?

While the true story behind this film is indisputably dramatic, the film version never quite achieves the suspense it wants to. Chalk this up to a predictable outcome and some heavy-handed faith-based messages and anthems wedged into On a Wing and a Prayer . Graham and Quaid are serviceable as a married couple with noticeably thick Louisiana accents. Other characters are cliched, like a hard-drinking single man, a traumatized former flight instructor, and an 18-year-old with an attitude. There are also two kids witnessing the action who add little to the story.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how On a Wing and a Prayer creates suspense. Were you nervous watching the film at any point?

Doug is questioning his faith after his brother's death. Did you understand his doubts? How does faith help Terri and her daughters get through a scary situation?

What other films have you watched that were based on true stories? What special considerations do you think the filmmakers take into account when adapting someone's story to screen? Why might they change the facts for a film?

Did you think the characters in the airplane and also on the ground were brave in confronting this potential tragedy? How do you think you'd have reacted? Why?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : April 7, 2023
• Cast : Dennis Quaid , Heather Graham , Jesse Metcalfe
• Director : Sean McNamara
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Amazon Prime Video
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : STEM , Brothers and Sisters
• Run time : 102 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : peril, some language, suggestive references and thematic elements
• Last updated : April 6, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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• Brothers and Sisters

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ Review: Dennis Quaid’s Spiritual Thriller Flies on Bad Faith

Re-creating a civilian pilot's emergency landing, 'Soul Surfer' director Sean McNamara mines a true-life rescue mission for faith-based melodrama.

By Todd Gilchrist

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Popular on variety.

With nominal experience behind the yoke, Doug promptly panics, and air traffic control prepares for the worst; the likeliest outcome is a crashed plane and multiple lives lost, especially without any experienced pilots available to coach him. But in a last-ditch effort to find a solution, aspiring controller Dan Favio (Myers) makes a cellular call from inside the center — a federal offense — to connect with Kari (Metcalfe), an experienced pilot living in Connecticut who also knows the plane that Doug is flying, but is also carrying the weight of another plane crash in his past.

A cursory Google search didn’t produce a detailed enough account to determine how faithful this film is to the event that inspired it, but even taking its depiction at face value, what’s remarkable about “On a Wing and a Prayer” is how lazily it reduces some profound personal, professional and spiritual epiphanies to bullet points in a checklist of “uplifting” clichés and dramatic pivots. The Doug White on screen isn’t just inexperienced as a pilot, he’s absolutely terrified of the prospect — despite taking lessons; he reasonably asks what kind of God would take the life of his brother (and his father, long before the start of the movie), yet his faith is fully restored after his Lord and savior sends him up in an airplane whose pilot promptly dies, threatening not just his life but his entire family’s.

One of his daughter’s sins is excessive pride in the family’s achievements, and the other’s is in not suitably honoring her father and mother. Dan Favio hopes to become an air traffic controller, but he’s a combative alcoholic who breaks the rules and does his job with a hangover. Haunted by a plane crash that he couldn’t prevent, Kari Sorensen bottles up his feelings and alienates his girlfriend Ashley (Anna Enger Ritch) until she announces plans to leave him. Then there’s Donna (Raina Grey), a neglected preteen who dreams of flying herself and provides a layman’s play-by-play as the rest of the adult characters trade piloting lingo. Only Doug’s saintly, devout wife Terri doesn’t face a pivotal personal crisis, a blessing that elevates Graham’s steady-handed performance above those of her co-stars.

Regardless of how ham-fisted those other turns are, McNamara simply handles the material all wrongly, from the way he navigates the cramped space of the airplane to his treatment of an emotional arc that telegraphs its genuflection to God’s grace before the story takes off. Even being kind to a production that was obviously limited in its resources, he bafflingly swoops over, around and outside the plane instead of putting us in the co-pilot’s seat alongside Doug and Terri, yet re-creates piloting methodologies and language so exactingly that the experience becomes impossible to penetrate, perhaps except as a training video for future air traffic controllers to learn from.

“On a Wing and a Prayer” begins streaming April 7 on Prime Video.

Reviewed online, April 4, 2023. MPA Rating: PG. Running time: 101 MIN.

• Production: A Prime Video release of a LightWorkers, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures presentation, in association with Autumn Bailey Entertainment. Producers: Autumn Bailey-Ford, Roma Downey, Karl Horstmann. Executive producer: Marco Henry.
• Crew: Director: Sean McNamara. Screenplay: Brian Egeston. Camera: Christian Sebaldt. Editor: Jeff W. Canavan. Music: Brandon Roberts.
• With: Dennis Quaid, Heather Graham, Jesse Metcalfe, Brett Rice, Rocky Myers, Anna Enger Ritch, Raina Grey.

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• DVD & Streaming

On a Wing and a Prayer

• Action/Adventure , Christian , Drama , Thriller

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Dennis Quaid as Doug White; Heather Graham as Terri White; Rocky Myers as Dan; Jesse Metcalfe as Cory; Selena Anduze as Lisa; Roger Anthony as Bill; Jessi Case as Maggie White; Raina Grey as Donna; Brett Rice as Jeff White; Anna Enger Ritch as Ashley; Wilbur Fitzgerald as Joe; Abigail Rhyne as Bailey White; Trayce Malachi as Buggy

Home Release Date

• April 7, 2023
• Sean McNamara

Distributor

• Amazon Prime Video

Movie Review

You never want to hear your surgeon say, in mid-operation, “Oops!” You don’t want your accountant to admit that he’s a little fuzzy on the concept of percentages. And you certainly don’t want your pilot to have a heart attack—while flying your plane.

Which means you wouldn’t have wanted to be Doug White on Easter Sunday in 2009.

Doug was having a pretty rough day anyway. He and his family (wife, Terri; two teen daughters, Maggie and Bailey) had just buried Doug’s brother in Florida. His girls were fighting again. Oldest daughter Maggie was still spending way too much time glued to her phone. Neither seem to appreciate all the gifts their family had been given—including the wherewithal to rent a private plane to shuttle them all home to Louisiana.

And if all that wasn’t enough, Doug himself was dealing with a crisis of faith.

“I’m just tired of losing people, Terri,” he tells his wife after his brother’s funeral.

“God’s going to get us through,” Terri says.

“Is that the same God who let this happen?” Doug asks.

Well . If Doug was angry about losing a brother, he’s sure to be asking some tough questions of the Almighty when he loses his pilot at 11,000 feet.

Still, it could be worse.

Doug had been up in the cockpit when the pilot lost consciousness. And he had taken a flying lesson. One .

Thing is, though, Doug had been a horrible student—so horrible that his brother (still alive at that point) advised him to take up a new hobby. And the tiny Cessna he had flown was a toy compared to the King Air he and his family are aboard. Might as well learn how to pilot an F-15— literally on the fly.

Yep, Doug will have some hard questions for God when he and his family inevitably crash.

Or it could be that God is right there with them, ready to work in some powerful, and unexpected, ways.

[ Note: Spoilers are contained in the following sections. ]

Positive Elements

On a Wing and a Prayer is based on a true story—and one with a happy ending. The real Doug White and his family landed safely, in part to some level-headed work by Doug and some experienced, conscientious people on the ground. The movie showcases and dramatizes that real-life heroism.

In the movie, Doug might not be a great pilot, but he seems to be a pretty good person. He clearly loves his wife and kids (even if the latter can be a bit exasperating). And when he and his brother win a barbecue contest, he brings some of his winning goodies to share with the homeless.

Wife Terri is at least as conscientious as Doug is—reminding younger daughter Bailey to be “humble and respectful” during the barbecue competition. And when older daughter Maggie complains about feeding the homeless, Terri tells her that she needs to change her perspective—and that a night with the less fortunate just might provide it.

But when disaster strikes on the private plane they’re on, that’s when Doug and Terri’s character really shines.

Both are remarkably calm in what is clearly a stressful situation. Terri even cracks a joke or two. And, of course, every member of the White family has a renewed appreciation for each other: Petty squabbles are forgotten in this atmosphere of peril, and only the desire to love and help each other remains.

As the Whites struggle to survive in the clouds, several people on terra firma work to bring the family home safely. Conscientious air traffic controllers bring their expertise and calm to the situation. Cory, a pilot in Connecticut with thousands of hours of experience flying an Air King, talks Doug through the process as best as he can. That pilot’s girlfriend constructs a mockup of an Air King cockpit in minutes , helping her beau in his critical, potentially life-saving work. Doug’s hand might be on the wheel, but it takes a community to bring him and his family safely home.

And the movie suggests that lives aren’t just saved on the plane: Lives are significantly impacted on the ground, too. A man with a drinking problem sets aside liquor and instead considers a new relationship. A couple on the outs appears to patch things up. A girl gets some quality time with her dad. (In truth, that doesn’t seem to have much to do with the story, but still it’s a good thing on balance.) And a handful of people get a measure of closure regarding some old emotional wounds.

Spiritual Elements

The word prayer is, obviously, right in the movie’s title; and it fittingly takes a place of primacy in the movie itself.

We can see early on that the Whites are a praying family. When they’re taking food to the homeless, they pause for a minute to bless the food they’re delivering. (They encourage recipients to have a “blessed Easter,” as well.) The pilot tells Doug, “I usually say a prayer before takeoff.”  And, of course, when the pilot has a heart attack while the plane’s in the air, we see a whole lotta praying going on upstairs. (It’s a reflection of the real-life story, where Doug White told his wife and daughters to “pray real hard.”)

But as mentioned, Doug’s dealing with some spiritual disillusionment during the movie’s middle frames. Rocked by loss and tragedy, Doug finds Terri’s unwavering faith a bit pollyannish.  During his brother’s funeral, the pastor tells the attendees, “We never know why” tragedy happens, but “we always know the answer: God is with us.”

Doug then stalks out of the church before giving his prepared eulogy—either too grief-stricken or distinctly unmoved by the pastor’s attempted words of comfort. “This is either some kind of test, or maybe all the stuff they told me in church just doesn’t mean what I thought it did,” he tells Terri.

But in the plane, Doug tells the folks on the ground that it’s “just me and the good Lord flying the airplane.” (Later, the film hints that God took a more active role in handling the plane.) And once safely down on the ground, Doug himself prays—apologizing for his doubt and thanking God for His goodness.

We see a Bible on a nightstand beside Doug and Terri’s bed. Another house has some crosses hanging from the walls, along with a sign that says “Believe.” We hear some expressions of divine thanks. A girl says that she doesn’t believe in anything she can’t see anymore. “This includes the Easter bunny, the bogeyman and Dad.” (It’s possible that director Sean McNamara intends for that oft-absent father to have some spiritual resonance; the girl is cautioned to “always be prepared” for her father to come back.)

Sexual Content

Doug and Terri seem to have a healthy love life. At the barbeque contest, Terri flings out a double entendre related to the sauce she’ll save for him “later tonight.” We see Terri in a somewhat revealing robe, and she and Doug kiss and giggle together. When they fall off the bed, one exclaims that “love hurts.”

Bill, an air-traffic controller in training, goes to a local bar and eyes a female singer entertaining the audience. She wears a top that reveals a bit of cleavage, and she comes over after her set to talk and flirt. She asks why he’s drinking so heavily (more on that later), telling him, “I try to get inside a man’s head before he tries to get me in his bed.”

“Is it working?” Bill asks. She says no and walks away. (Later, they again meet, and the two walk out holding hands.)

Violent Content

We don’t really see any violence on screen. But themes of death and peril are constant.

We don’t see the pilot, Joe, suffer from his apparent heart attack. He does seem to experience some pain in his arm shortly before, but the camera cuts away. It returns to find him unconscious in the pilot’s seat. And when Doug and Terri try to remove the body, the pilot falls forward and sends the plane falling, too.

From then on, obviously, the lives of those aboard the Air King are imperiled—and everyone knows it. Air traffic specialists soothingly encourage Doug one moment, then flip off the mic and lament how doomed the family is. Some of them worry that the plane will crash into a populated area. Two young teens, eavesdropping on the ground-to-air communication, follow this airborne disaster-in-the-making via their own radio. “And we’re going to hear everything?” one of the kids says to the other, worried they’ll be front-row witnesses to a disaster. “That’s messed up .”

Doug’s brother, Jeff, dies off camera, and we hear about other natural deaths as well. Someone deals with a life-imperiling peanut allergy, and we see her suffer a severe reaction. Another character slams into the back of a truck. We hear about how Doug crashed the family truck into the lake. There’s a reference to corporal punishment.

Crude or Profane Language

We hear more profanity here than we do in most Christian films we review, but it’s still pretty mild compared so secular movies in general. We hear four uses of “d–n,” one of “h—” and two of “crap.” We also hear a half-dozen exclamations misusing God’s name.

Drug and Alcohol Content

An air traffic controller, Dan, drinks heavily at a bar. He has the bartender pour him three shots—one each of tequila, vodka and gin. (It’s apparently not his first round of shots, either.) When a woman comes up and asks him why all the clear liquor, he tells her that it’s the closest he’s going to get to water tonight. (Later, when describing his encounter with that woman to a friend of his, Dan says that she liked a lot of bourbon—a lie, it would seem, to deflect the fact that he drank so much all by himself.)

The next morning, he comes into the airport clearly hung over. He’s cautioned that if he still has alcohol in his system, “They can fire you on the spot.” (It’s suggested that the events that take place that day lead Dan away from alcohol and down a more positive path.)

Characters drink wine.

Other Negative Elements

During Doug’s lone flying lesson, his brother Jeff is in the back seat. He complains of getting air sick (joking that he’s sitting in his lunch) before actually vomiting off camera.

The two young teens eavesdropping on the airborne drama, Donna and Buggy, eventually sprint out of Donna’s house, hop on their bikes and pedal to the airport in order to see the drama come to its conclusion. They speed past security. “Don’t stop!” Donna shouts. “We’re minors! They’ll never take us to jail!”

Doug’s daughters, Maggie and Bailey, start the movie engaged in almost constant conflict, and Maggie seems far more interested in her phone than her family.

“You be in charge of praying,” Doug tells Terri after their pilot keels over. “I’m going to try to figure out how to fly this airplane.”

In context, it makes sense. I mean, what else can Doug do? If his family dares hope to get out of this mess alive, Doug will need to take some agency, right? He’ll need to learn how to fly this monster of an airplane.

But Doug’s words reveal more than just his will to live and desire to save his family. They perhaps unintentionally reveal his mindset in the moment. You pray , he tells his wife. I’ll fly .

Back in the day, I’d sometimes see bumper stickers that would say, “God is My Co-pilot.” I think that’s the way many of us, if we’re Christians, sometimes like to think of our relationship with the Almighty. He’s in the cockpit with us every step of the way. But unintentionally, it reinforces our own vanity, our own reliance on our own self-reliance. We have a hard time turning over control. We like to chart our own course, direct our own plane. We’re comforted that God is sitting beside us if something goes wrong—but we figure we don’t really need Him if everything goes right.

You’d think we’d know better. You’d think we’d remember that God is in control, not us. It’s only through relinquishment, through submission, that we give God a chance to work His majestic miracles in our lives. Too often we, like Doug, don’t turn the tiller over until we have no other choice. We are brought to our knees when there’s nowhere else to go.

In On a Wing and a Prayer , Doug and his family have literally nowhere else to go but … down. And while Doug’s unflappable courage and calm is laudable, both he and we understand that to touch this bird down safely, he’ll need more than his own strength and skill. He’ll need help. He’ll need God.

The true story of On a Wing and a Prayer is indeed a remarkable tale of courage, teamwork and perhaps supernatural help. All those elements find their way into this Prime Video film. And while the movie brings some unfortunate elements along for the ride—some references to sex and drinking and some mildly profane language—most of those elements have reason to make the trip. This is, after all, not just the story of the White family: It’s about those on the ground that were changed by the experience, too.

The film doesn’t always work. The dialog can feel a bit contrived in spots, the acting a bit soft. But the story keeps On a Wing and a Prayer flying.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)

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On a Wing and a Prayer Review: Faith-Based Airplane Crisis Stumbles

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A Christian family suffering a tragic loss experiences a harrowing crisis while flying home on Easter Sunday in 2009. On a Wing and a Prayer tells the remarkable true story of how Doug White (Dennis Quaid) landed a private plane after the pilot's death midair. A man questioning his faith finds strength in God as strangers rally to help. If only the film captured the moment without strained melodrama, contrived subplots, and poor editing. What should have been a riveting tale of survival under pressure feels hokey and staged.

Doug (Quaid) panics with his brother, Jeff (Brett Rice), on a training flight in Southwest Florida. They laugh before attending a barbeque competition. Doug's wife, Terri (Heather Graham), has made her delicious sauce. Their teenage daughters, Bailey (Abigail Rhyne) and Maggie (Jessi Case), argue afterward. Maggie doesn't understand why they're giving leftover food to homeless people. Terri chastises her selfishness. They must share God's blessings with the less fortunate.

The family receives awful news the following day. Doug can't process what has happened. He wonders why God would heap such loss on him. Terri consoles him. Their savior has a higher purpose. The Wrights decide to return home to Louisiana. Doug books a private plane with King Air. Their pilot, Joe (Wilbur Fitzgerald), promises a smooth trip after an initial bumpy ride.

Into the Sky

Doug sits at the controls with Joe. He stares longingly into the sky before realizing Joe has passed out. A check of Joe's pulse reveals the unthinkable. Doug grabs the controls and radios the Fort Meyers airport for help. He's only had one flight lesson and doesn't have a clue what to do. At the tower, Dan Favio (Rocky Myers), an air traffic controller in training calls Kari Sorenson (Jesse Metcalfe), a grieving flight instructor, for help. Meanwhile, in an airport suburb, young Donna (Raina Grey) monitors the dangerous situation on her computer.

Related: The Best Films With Religious Themes

On a Wing and a Prayer pours the narrative batter thick from the start. Characters are quickly introduced in different settings. The supporting ensemble gets their own exposition before joining the fray. This makes sense to a certain extent but goes way overboard. Prolific director Sean McNamara ( Soul Surfer, The King's Daughter ) spends an inordinate amount of time outside the plane. This dilutes valuable tension by constantly cutting away from the primary protagonists. Donna serves as a tool explaining aviation lingo in layperson terms. But this is already done as Kari teaches flight controls. The entire kid subplot should have been cut from the film.

The editing choices are problematic throughout. Split screens are used to show different viewpoints. It works when we see the family on the plane, Kari in his garage, and the airport staff springing into action. What's puzzling is when each wheel in the landing gear gets their own dedicated shot. There's too much going on in frame during key scenes. I understand the idea of visually spreading the action, but it needed better execution.

A Faith-Based Film

On a Wing and a Prayer is chock-full of twangy Southern accents, country music, and Christian gospel references. That's not unexpected in a faith-based film geared towards a specific audience. But dialing down the proselytizing might have made the heavy-handed plot more accessible.

On a Wing and a Prayer is a production of MGM Light Workers. It will have an April 7th exclusive Prime Video streaming premiere from Amazon Studios.

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On a wing and a prayer review: dennis quaid’s doug white story flails then fails.

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Sean McNamara’s On a Wing and a Prayer doesn't stand a chance from the opening frame. The flat comedy and ham-fisted themes from screenwriter Brian Egeston ( The Game ) don’t do the film any favors and, sadly, the performances range from bad to worse. The occasional moment of tension or interesting use of split screen is about all the film has to offer, which is a shame because the real-life actions of Doug White are nothing short of extraordinary. On a Wing and a Prayer is a tale of two halves and neither is entertaining.

Doug (Dennis Quaid) wants to learn how to fly and drags his brother along for the lesson. Once safely on the ground, the brothers enter a barbeque contest and win in a landslide. Rejoicing with their families over the victory, it seems life couldn’t be sweeter. That is, until Doug gets a call in the middle of the night saying his brother has died. Stricken with grief, Doug begins to spiral. His wife (Heather Graham) tries to calm him down but the grief, combined with the pressures of being a father, are getting to him. Doug is forced into dealing with his trauma faster than he thinks when, while flying with his family, their pilot suddenly dies. Air traffic control calls in a specialist (Jesse Metcalfe) and it’s up to Doug to land the plane safely.

The first half of the film is spent on character development the story does not need. It’s hard to critique these elements in films based on real stories but, in the case of On a Wing and a Prayer , the same theme is repeated over and over. Grief and loss of belief in a higher power can be fascinating concepts to grapple with, but the film literalizes everything and offers no nuance. Even the plot mechanics themselves are redundant.

There is a subplot about two kids tracking the events of the film; they are one of three sets of characters doing the same thing. Meanwhile, air traffic control calls in a consultant to walk Quaid through flying the plane. The consultant's wife who is in the room with him calls Quaid even though they are already in contact. Cell phones themselves are an unnecessary bit of plot that keeps showing up. Two different characters are warned about the danger of using cell phones in plane environments and there are no consequences for either. So, why include that in the movie twice?

Bad southern accents and a truly confounding lead performance don’t help this already struggling film. The entire family sounds closer to a Saturday Night Live skit than they do to real people and every line of dialogue suffers as a result. Quaid is inaudible in certain scenes, but his accent is not distracting to the plot of the film. The same cannot be said for the rest of the cast. Graham’s affectation is so noticeable one simply cannot pay attention to anything else that’s going on. Similarly, her daughter Bailey, played by Abigail Rhyne ( Where’d All The Time Go ), is clearly invested and working hard in this role, but is held back by the twang in every word.

On a Wing and a Prayer will certainly find its audience and pays respect to a man who did the impossible, but as a viewing experience, it misses the mark at every turn. When Quaid lands the plane there is a triple split screen of each wheel releasing and hitting the tarmac. That instance of visual language commands attention, but unfortunately, it is the only scene in the film that does.

On A Wing And A Prayer begins streaming on Prime Video Friday, April 7. The film is 102 minutes long and is rated PG for peril, some language, suggestive references, and thematic elements.

On a Wing and a Prayer

On A Wing and a Prayer is a film adaptation of the true events surrounding the White family, who found themselves in a dangerous situation during a family flight. When the pilot of the plane dies from a heart attack mid-flight, Doug White, a pharmacist, must step in for him while working with Florida air traffic controllers to land the plane safely.

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On a Wing and a Prayer: History vs. Hollywood

Why did the real doug white and his family charter a private plane.

Like in the Amazon Prime movie, the On a Wing and a Prayer true story confirms that Doug White, his wife Terri, and their two daughters, Bailey (16) and Maggie (18), had traveled to Marco Island in South Florida to attend the funeral for Doug's brother, Jeff, who had died from a heart attack. They chartered a private plane to fly them back to Monroe, Louisiana. The plan was to drop Doug off first in Jackson, Mississippi where he'd left his truck (the family lived in the community of Archibald, Louisiana). The twin-engine plane they boarded for the return trip was a King Air 200. The pilot was 67-year-old Joe Cabuk, a former jet pilot in the Air Force. -The Christian Chronicle

When did the real-life events take place?

An On a Wing and a Prayer fact-check confirms that Doug White and his family found themselves in the terrifying situation on Easter Sunday in April 2009. The real Doug White was 56 at the time. Actor Dennis Quaid was approximately 67 at the time of filming, more than 10 years older than White was when the real-life events took place.

What did Doug White do for a living?

As seen in the Amazon Prime Doug White movie, he was a Louisiana pharmacist. White had received a Doctor of Pharmacy from Northeast Louisiana University and eventually owned a pharmacy called Medi-shop in Mangham, Louisiana. His wife Terri was a competing pharmacist, which is how they met. Instead of continuing to operate as competitors, they merged their businesses into one pharmacy. The On a Wing and a Prayer movie true story reveals that Doug White owned the King Air plane he was on with his family and had been leasing it to an air charter firm. He had purchased the plane in 2008 as both a business venture and a tax write-off. However, when the economy crashed that year, his plan didn't work out as he'd hoped. -NBC News

At what point in the flight did the pilot die suddenly?

As depicted in the film, the pilot, 67-year-old Joe Cabuk, died of sudden cardiac death (similar to a heart attack) less than 10 minutes after taking off from Marco Island, Florida. "I looked over and his chin was on his chest," Doug White recalled. "He made a loud, guttural sound, kind of a groan, and his eyes rolled back, and his hands never left his lap. It was quick, it was sudden, and it was final." -AOPA "I've got to declare an emergency. My pilot's deceased. I need help," White said over the radio. He didn't know why he had done it, but on a previous flight in the same plane, he had asked the pilot (not Joe Cabuk) what button to push to use the radio. The knowledge had now become invaluable. "I need to get this on the ground. I'm flyin' a King Air," he told the air traffic controllers. You can listen to a recording of Doug White's communications with air traffic control .  -CNN

After the pilot fell unconscious, did Doug White immediately yell for his wife Terri to come up to the cockpit?

Yes. In analyzing the On a Wing and a Prayer fact vs. fiction, we learned that Doug's wife Terri said that she was annoyed by his tone at first, thinking that he wanted a soda. She had been sitting in the passenger cabin with their two teenage daughters, Bailey and Maggie. Terri had been reading; Maggie, a student at Louisiana State University, was doing homework; and their younger daughter, Bailey, was trying to nap. When Terri entered the cockpit, Doug nodded his head to the left as if to say, "Look over there." "Joe — his head was bent over, and spit was coming out of his mouth," Terri recalled. "And I — just instinct — I just started shaking his shoulder, saying 'Joe! Joe!' And finally, Doug said, 'Terri, leave him alone. He's dead.' And that's when my heart went into overdrive." -The Christian Chronicle

Is it true that the pilot lost consciousness as the plane was ascending?

Yes. In researching how accurate is On a Wing and a Prayer , we learned that it had only been about 10 minutes since take off, and the plane was still ascending to its cruising altitude of 10,000 feet when the pilot lost consciousness. The On a Wing and a Prayer true story corroborates that the King Air 200 continued ascending, traveling thousands of feet higher than it was supposed to be at. As for Doug White, who had some experience flying smaller, single-engine Cessnas, he had never gone higher than 7,000 feet. -NBC News "King Air Five Five Nine Delta Whiskey, I'm declaring an emergency," White remembers telling the controllers. "I need to stop this climb, and I need a King Air pilot on the line." Air traffic controller Lisa Grimm told White to disengage the plane's autopilot. "We're gonna have you hand-fly the plane," she said. By the time he managed to disengage the autopilot and stop the plane's ascent, it had reached an altitude of "a little bit below 18,000" feet.  -AOPA

Did Doug White's wife, Terri, try to remove the unconscious pilot from his seat?

Yes. Doug was concerned that the pilot's body might tip over onto the control yoke. In real life, the space was too small and his wife Terri and daughter Maggie couldn't move the 200-plus-pound pilot. Terri instead tried to pull his shoulder harness tighter to ensure he remained upright. Unlike what's seen in the On a Wing and a Prayer movie , the pilot's body never tipped over onto the controls, sending the plane into a rapid descent. However, in the audio recording of Doug White's communication with air traffic control at Fort Myers, he does say, "I [gotta] keep this pilot off the control," indicating that the pilot's body was close to the yoke and Doug was concerned he'd tip onto it. In the film, they're able to get the pilot out of his seat and Terri (Heather Graham) is depicted as sitting next to Doug in the cockpit, which never happened in real life. In fact, after being unable to move the pilot, Doug had Terri and Maggie return to the passenger cabin where they remained for the rest of the flight.

Was Doug White instructed to land the plane in Fort Myers?

Yes. Like in the Doug White movie, dozens of air traffic controllers hurried to reroute flights so that Fort Myers International Airport could accept the King Air that was now in the hands of White, a passenger. "You find me the longest, widest runway you can, ma'am," White told air traffic controller Lisa Grimm, who was an experienced pilot herself. -CNN Top: The real Doug White stands in front of the King Air 200 that was involved in the incident. Bottom: Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham portray Doug and his wife Terri in the movie.

Did Doug White have any previous flying experience?

Yes. The true story reveals that White had started taking flying lessons in 1989 and got his pilot's license in 1990. Having accomplished his goal, he didn't have the money to fly 2-3 times per week to stay sharp, so he gave up flying. At that point, he had logged 83 or 84 hours of flying. 18 years passed before he decided to take it up again in January 2009, having recently logged about 40-45 hours in the slower, less-complicated, single-engine Cessna 172. In total, he had not more than 129 hours of flight time in Cessna 172s prior to Easter 2009. This is significantly different than the movie, which depicts White (Dennis Quaid) as having piloted just "one discovery flight" where he nearly crashed and had to hand over the controls to his instructor.  -FS MaNiA On a Wing and a Prayer

Did Doug White try to put the autopilot back on at one point?

Yes. In conducting our On a Wing and a Prayer fact-check, we learned that White did try to turn the plane's autopilot system back on. However, doing so started to steer the plane north toward the direction of Jackson, Mississippi, the destination that the deceased pilot, Joe Cabuk, had programmed into the system. -NBC News

Is the pilot portrayed by Jesse Metcalfe based on a real person?

Yes. As indicated in the On a Wing and a Prayer cast vs. real people section at the top of this article, Metcalfe's character, Kari Sorenson, is based on the real-life Danbury, Connecticut pilot and flight instructor who helped talk Doug White through landing the twin-engine plane. Like in the movie, Dan Favio, a developmental air traffic controller in Fort Myers, reached out to his friend Sorenson, who was certified in flying the King Air plane. In order to keep things as simple as possible, Sorenson said that he told White only the most critical information that was needed to land the plane safely. "Doug learned to fly that plane in 20 minutes. I don't think you could have made the plane more complex or the pilot less experienced and have had a successful landing," Sorenson said at a 2010 ceremony in Orlando honoring White and those involved. It's worth noting that in real life, Sorenson did not talk to Doug White directly over the phone. He instead gave the instructions to his friend, air traffic controller Dan Favio, who relayed them to another controller, Brian Norton, who was the one talking to White (Sorenson never called the deceased pilot's cell phone to talk directly to White). "These people saved my family from an almost certain fiery death," the real Doug White said of the air traffic controllers and the pilot, Sorenson, who talked him through landing the plane.  -CNN

Had Kari Sorenson lost family members in a similar situation to the one that Doug White and his family found themselves in?

This is what Kari Sorenson (Jesse Metcalfe) tells Doug White (Dennis Quaid) in the movie as he's trying to help White get through the ordeal. Sorenson implies that he wasn't in a position to help his family and he "lost them." This is largely true. The real Kari Sorenson lost two family members in separate airplane accidents. His father, a pilot, was killed in a plane crash in White Plains, New York in 1981 when Sorenson was a teenager. Then in 1996, his stepfather was one of 230 people who perished when TWA Flight 800 exploded mid-air and crashed off Long Island. Despite these two tragedies, Sorenson still pursued a career as a pilot. The movie dramatizes Sorenson's role a bit by having it be a cathartic experience for him to help Doug White and his family survive the ordeal. In the process, Jesse Metcalfe's character is able to exercise some of the demons he's been harboring ever since he lost loved ones in a similar situation. This idea that Sorenson has to come to terms with the loss in his own life and heal old wounds was invented by the screenwriter.

Did Doug White's daughter, Bailey, have an allergic reaction to peanuts during the flight?

No. In the movie, Bailey White (Abigail Rhyne) has an allergic reaction after she eats a chocolate bar, which her sister Maggie (Jessi Case) discovers was processed in a facility that uses peanuts. Maggie then has to desperately reach through a cargo net into the luggage area at the back of the plane to retrieve Bailey's EpiPen from her backpack. It might make for a dramatic moment in the film, but it never happened in real life.

Did Doug White fly into a storm?

No. The entire ordeal lasted about 50 minutes. The only significant turbulence that Doug White mentioned encountering in real life was when they took off and began to ascend through the clouds. At that point, their pilot, Joe Cabuk, was still alive and in control. In reality, Doug had blue and sunny skies during the ordeal. While landing at Fort Myers, there was "no wind." In one of the movie's biggest liberties with the truth, the family flies into a storm with thunder and lightning, which never happened in real life. They also never lost communication with air traffic control.

Did Doug White remain mostly calm throughout the ordeal?

Yes. One of the real-life air traffic controllers described Doug White as being "like the coolest cucumber" throughout the intense ordeal ( CNN ). White admitted there were moments when he got nervous, even if he didn't show it. "It was a focused fear," he said. "And I was in some kind of a zone that I can't explain" ( NBC News ). Dennis Quaid's character exhibits far more fear in the On a Wing and a Prayer movie than White did in real life. As for his family, they weren't as calm. Upon learning the pilot was likely deceased, his wife Terri trembled, his 16-year-old daughter Bailey cried, and his eighteen-year-old daughter Maggie threw up ( NBC News ).

Are the two kids in the movie who listen to the situation unfold online based on real people?

No. In the movie, a young girl named Donna (Raina Grey), who wants to be a pilot like her father, listens to live air traffic controller transmissions online. She stumbles across Doug White (Dennis Quaid) communicating with a controller. Realizing the magnitude of the situation, she tells her friend Buggy (Trayce Malachi) to come over. They eventually ride their bikes to the airport and sneak in to watch the plane land. This part of the storyline, including these two characters, is entirely fictional.

Is Doug White's family religious?

Yes. The White family attended the Forsythe Church of Christ in Monroe, Louisiana. It's true they did a lot of praying during their perilous situation on the plane. Not long after the pilot died, Doug turned to his family and said, "You all start praying hard." -NBC News "I mean, what could I do? Nothing, just sit there and pray and, you know, throw up," said the White's teenage daughter, Maggie. -CNN It's no accident that the movie is called On a Wing and a Prayer . The Whites turned down previous offers to turn their story into a movie and finally decided to go with the filmmakers who were willing to create a faith-based film. "Faith in the life of a Christian is only increased, made stronger, when we go through trials and are delivered on the other side," said the real Doug White. "… When you are facing challenges and seeking God's help and then watch his deliverance, your faith is increased. Without tests and trials, there would be no need for faith." -Harding.edu Terri White said that for a long time, she didn't understand the reason that God had saved them. "And then when they started talking about that movie, it clicked. I thought, that's got to be it, because it's a faith-based movie. And I'm hoping that it's going to open a lot of people's eyes and turn them around and make them Christians. That's my whole plan." -The Christian Chronicle At the top is the family embracing in the movie, and at the bottom is the real-life White family, including (from left to right) Bailey, Doug, Terri, and Maggie. Photos: Prime Video / White Family

Did Doug White land the plane smoothly?

Yes. "It was a greaser, to be honest," he told AOPA . "It didn't jump or skip. It just set down and stopped in 3,500 feet or less. I asked which taxiway they wanted me to use." Unlike what's seen in the movie, there was no wind and White landed the plane on his first try. It was one of his best landings. Our On a Wing and a Prayer fact-check confirms that White didn't know how to stop the engines and shut the King Air 200 down after he landed. Fortunately, he received advice on how to do so over the radio.

How long were Doug White and his family in the air after their pilot died?

White and his family were in the air for approximately 30 minutes after their pilot fell unconscious from sudden cardiac death roughly 10 minutes after taking off. Their entire flight was not more than 50 minutes. The movie lengthens the flight a bit, in part by having White abort his first landing attempt due to a crosswind shifting the plane, which didn't happen in real life. He landed smoothly on his first try.

Did EMTs try to revive the pilot after Doug White safely landed the plane?

Yes. Numerous emergency vehicles, including police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks, were waiting on the ground as Doug White safely landed the plane on the 12,000-foot-long Runway 6 at Fort Myers International Airport shortly after 2 p.m. on Easter Sunday 2009. Runway 6 at Fort Myers is unusually long because it had been used as a backup runway for the Space Shuttle in case it couldn't land at Cape Canaveral. In researching the On a Wing and a Prayer true story, we learned that EMTs spent 30 minutes trying to revive the pilot, Joe Cabuk, but to no avail. It was revealed later that Cabuk had died of sudden cardiac death, which is similar to a heart attack (both result in a loss of blood flow to the brain). -NBC News

Is it true that Doug White and his family had been given a less than ten percent chance of surviving?

Yes. At a ceremony in Orlando the following year, Doug White and his family reunited with the aviation experts who helped get them to the ground safely. The family was stunned to learn that they had been given a less than ten percent chance of making it through the ordeal alive. -CNN

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Review: 'On a Wing and a Prayer' is an inspiring true-story-based film

The newly released movie "on a wing and a prayer" is produced to keep the audience on their toes with teary eyes..

Although the poster for "On a Wing and a Prayer" may provide viewers with a general sense of the movie's plot, it cannot fully capture the emotional depth and thrilling moments that the audience will encounter while watching the film. Only by actually viewing the movie can one truly experience the full range of emotions and excitement that it offers.

"On a Wing and a Prayer" is a movie that is based on a true story about a man named Doug, who tragically loses his pilot brother. Despite his own failed attempts to become a pilot, Doug's passion for flying remains undiminished. After his brother's funeral, Doug and his family board a flight home, and his wife manages to persuade the pilot to allow Doug to sit in the co-pilot's seat. However, when the pilot suddenly dies mid-flight, Doug is left with the daunting task of landing the plane.

The movie follows Doug and his family as they confront seemingly insurmountable challenges, with the help of air traffic controllers and flight instructors who provide remote guidance and support. Their struggle to survive is a testament to the power of perseverance and prayer in the face of incredible adversity.

Movie’s Highs

"On a Wing and a Prayer" is an outstanding movie that truly captivates its viewers with its inspirational storyline. The fact that it is based on a true story makes it all the more remarkable. Roma Downey, who has produced other excellent movies, does a fantastic job with this one as well. The subplot involving the young aspiring pilot and her friend who follow the plane online adds another layer of interest to the film.

The casting of Dennis Quaid in the lead role is perfect, and he delivers an outstanding performance that is both convincing and captivating. The tension and suspense build as the control tower, King Air pilot guru, and other experts work with the emergency pilot (Quaid) to get him and his family safely on the ground. I was literally on the edge of my seat, riveted by the unfolding drama. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys inspirational, true-story-based films.

Movie’s Lows

There was a subplot that didn’t really change anything in the storyline. It was involving a young aspiring pilot and her friend who follow the plane online and try to catch the plane’s landing or crash, which doesn’t really make sense. The presence of the two young children in the movie is puzzling, as it is not clear what purpose they serve in advancing the plot. In fact, they are more of a distraction and annoyance than anything else.

Read more: Review: The fourth season of 'Manifest' is an enjoyable puzzle to be pieced together

It almost feels like the filmmakers added them in as a contrived plot device, hoping to appeal to a younger audience. At times, it seemed as though they were building up to a Disney-style climax where the child pilot would save the day, but this never materializes. Overall, the inclusion of these characters felt unnecessary and did little to enhance the movie's storyline. Also, while the flying visuals are stunning, the character development feels rushed and lacking, making it difficult to connect with the story.

Overall, I liked this movie, although I was confused about some parts.

However, I would still rate this movie a 7 out of 10.

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Review: ‘On A Wing And A Prayer’ A Real-Life Journey Of Survival In The Skies

One A Wing And A Prayer is an inspiring and heartwarming film that depicts a true story of faith and survival. The movie follows the harrowing journey of the White family as they try to land a plane safely after their pilot unexpectedly dies mid-flight on Easter Sunday 2009. Having no experience flying a twin-engine aircraft, Doug S. White, played by Dennis Quaid, struggles to save his entire family from a seemingly certain tragedy. With the help of a far-flung group of determined “angels,” who join forces in a race against time and weather, the Whites learn a great deal about themselves, each other, and the miracles that simple faith can achieve.

Dennis Quaid leads the cast as Doug White, reuniting with his Soul Surfer and Reagan director, Sean McNamara. The screenplay is written by Brian Egeston, while the film features a small cast, including Heather Graham, and Jesse Metcalfe. The real-life event brought to the big screen offers insight into what happens at the flight towers and with air traffic controllers. Although the plot centers around White’s forced takeover of the controls, the movie does a wonderful job of giving good insight.

In April 2009, Doug White, his wife Terry (Graham), and two daughters were flying back home from Florida to Louisiana on a private plane when the pilot had a fatal heart attack. White, who had a pilot’s license but had never flown a plane as big as the King Air, was forced to take over the controls. Despite his lack of experience and questioning his own faith, Doug had to try his best to guide the plane to a nearby landing strip. To help him, an aspiring air-traffic controller broke protocol and contacted experienced pilot Kari (Metcalfe) from his home in Connecticut, who managed to contact Doug directly and provide step-by-step advice.

One of the film’s highlights is the outstanding performance of Raina Grey, who plays 9-year-old Donna, a flight enthusiast, and a brilliant one at that. Grey beautifully emboldens her character’s intelligence, strength, courage, passionate drive, and outlook on life. She also has some of the best lines and scenes in the film. If the person she portrayed is as real as Doug, I truly hope that little girl grew up to become the pilot she truly deserves to be!

Despite some shortcomings, such as cartoonish CGI graphics at the beginning of the movie, obvious lip-synching to songs, and a mismatch of choir vocals in the church scene, On A Wing And A Prayer remains a fairly decent film that will keep you pretty damn close to the edge of your seat.

On A Wing And A Prayer is an inspiring and uplifting movie that celebrates the power of faith and determination. If this story of spiritual inspiration piques your interest, then I  recommend this film as a great choice to see. However, the film’s intentional and overwhelming incorporation of artifacts, scripture/verbiage, and songs (one even sung by Quaid – “I’ll Fly Away” ) that richly promote the practice and beliefs of Christianity may be a bit much for some viewers, including myself. Nonetheless, the message of hope and resilience is more than universally clear.

On A Wing And A Prayer will premiere on Prime Video Friday, April 7th.

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Is On a Wing and a Prayer based on a True Story? We discuss whether the 2023 Amazon Prime Video movie is based on real events.

Academy Award dodging Texan Dennis Quaid , roller skating ex- Twin Peaks resident Heather Graham , and Jesse Metcalfe are the lead cast members in this gripping new survival thriller On a Wing and a Prayer .

As the title might suggest, this is a thrilling drama set on a plane when every passenger’s worse nightmare transpires. Almost everything that could go wrong does go wrong, and you almost feel like checking off a bingo board as problem after problem arrives to test the resolve and faith of our characters.

With such a premise, you find yourself wondering if this could happen, so with that in mind, this disastrous article will ask the question, is On a Wing and a Prayer based on a true story, and we hope to stick the landing.

What is the movie On a Wing and a Prayer about?

The movie follows a series of events on a privately chartered plane with the White family returning home after a family member’s funeral.

Dad Doug, mum Terri and their two daughters have been mourning the death of Doug’s brother and are now en route back to Louisiana, and Doug has managed to get a seat next to the pilot at the front of the plane. Doug, a man of faith, has had his world rocked by the death of his brother, and his faith will be tested further as the pilot slumps down dead, leaving Doug at the wheel.

Doug manages to get in touch with air traffic control, and the tension mounts as he attempts to bring the plane down in one piece.

Is On a Wing and a Prayer based on a True Story?

This film is based on a true story. The setup is all true, as depicted in the movie. The real-life Doug White and his family had attended his brother’s funeral and were on a flight back to Louisiana in April 2009. The private chartered plane took off from Marco Island, Florida, and tragically, after the take-off, Joe Cabuk, their retired jet pilot, became unconscious.

Doug took the plane’s controls and contacted the control tower to explain their position. The Fort Myers International Airport was in a position to accept the plane that would have to essentially perform an emergency landing, and all other flights were re-routed.

On the front line was Lisa Grimm, an experienced pilot and an air traffic controller at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Centre. To enable Doug to take control of the plane, she asked Doug to turn off the auto-pilot and handle the controls manually in what must have been a nightmarish moment.

Incredibly, Doug had taken flight lessons for 150 hours, but he had learned in a single-engine Cessna 172, and that was a completely different craft than the one he was in charge of now.

Is On a Wing and a Prayer based on a book?

No, the film is based on the true story of the events that happened, but the screenplay was written by Brian Egeston, and Sean McNamara directed the film.

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Article by Louie Fecou

Louie Fecou joined the Ready Steady Cut writing team back in August 2018 as an Entertainment Writer and, since then, has published over 1,000 articles for the site. Louie has proven experience in various publications, print and online. To kickstart his journalism career, in 2013, he was a columnist and writer for The Irvine Herald Newspaper.

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Enjoyed On a Wing and a Prayer? 8 Movies You Will Also Like

The profound epiphanies that have you reconsidering everything are precisely what makes ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ a terrific movie. Inspired by the remarkable story of Doug White and his family, the airplane survival film focuses on the emergency landing of a King Air 200 plane executed by Doug and his wife in 2009. It follows Doug going to his brother’s funeral only to find himself having a crisis of faith to the point he cannot speak publicly about his late brother. Chaos ensues when his family finally charters a private plane to head back to Louisiana. With their pilot having a fatal heart attack minutes into the flight, the couple doesn’t just take control of the plane but also set the pace for life-altering situations.

Directed by Sean McNamara, Starring Dennis Quaid, Heather Graham, Jesse Metcalfe, Brett Rice and Rocky Myers, the movie attests to the faith and determination that can see through any disaster. The portrayal of the human spirit in earnest naturally makes up for a riveting watch. So, if the redemptive dramatization appeals to you as much as it did to us, here is a list of films similar to ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ that fuses elements of courage and survival effortlessly.

8. 7500 (2020)

Director and writer Patric Vollrath brings the stomach-clenching intensity through the limited confinements of a cockpit effortlessly in ‘7500’. Featuring Joseph-Gordon Levitt as co-pilot Tobias Ellis, the movie follows a riveting face-off between a pilot and an extremist who hijacks the plane. The airline code for hijacking ‘7500’ follows a claustrophobic setting where co-pilot Tobias doesn’t just need to protect the controls but also pay witness to the extremist killing the passengers. As he struggles to save the lives of the passengers in an incredibly taut setting, viewers will find themselves feeling the same intensity as they did in the familial survival of ‘On a Wing and a Prayer.’

7. Flightplan (2005)

The mystery psychological thriller starring Jodie Foster , Peter Sarsgaard and Sean Bean follows the storyline of aircraft engineer Kyle Pratt heading home to New York on a double-decker airplane with her husband. However, a few hours into the flight, she awakens to find her daughter missing and embarks on a mission to locate her while questioning her sanity and going against hundreds of people on board.

Directed by Robert Schwentke, the exhilarating storyline keeps viewers on the hook as the tension offered by the confines of the airplane continues to build. As the movie focuses on the alternations between reality and illusion, viewers are left following the intensely crafted film that follows the same testament of faith that ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ focuses on, making this movie a great follow-up.

6. Non-Stop (2014)

Another thriller that keeps you guessing what comes next, ‘Non-Stop’ follows the plot of an alcoholic ex-NYPD officer turned Federal Air Marshal, Bill Marks, finding a killer on an international flight from New York to London after receiving mysterious messages. The cryptic messages demanding $150 million and following a series of murders on the airplane is precisely what makes the Jaume Collet-Serra directorial an ingenious suspense thriller.

Starring Liam Neeson , Julianne Moore , Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery and Nate Parker, the movie follows similar elements of ‘On a Wing and a Prayer,’ with a taut situation in the limited confines of the airplane and the lives of passengers on the line. So, If you loved watching the reaffirmation of faith in ‘On a Wing and a Prayer,’ then this gritty thriller-action of an airplane will be the right movie for you.

5. Turbulence (1997)

Teetering on the sensitive balance of safety in the air, ‘Turbulence’ sees murderer Ryan Weaver breaking free from a group of dangerous convicts being transported in the air. Complete chaos ensues throughout the plane, with numerous falling prey to Weaver. Finally, flight attendant Teri Halloran portrayed by Lauren Holly takes it upon herself to keep the aircraft afloat and prevent it from crashing.

With Ray Liotta appearing as Weaver and Ben Cross essaying the character of the air traffic controller, the Robert Butler directorial keeps viewers engulfed in a frightening state throughout the movie. The disaster thriller involves elements of life and death. Following ‘On a Wing and a Prayer,’ this is the right movie to choose if you want a riveting storyline and gritty action.

4. United 93 (2006)

Following the tumultuous events of September 11, 2001, the movie chronicles the situation within United Airlines Flight 93, one of the four hijacked aircraft during the 9/11 attacks and the only plane that did not crash. The movie follows a real-time account of the events that passed on United Flight 93 and focuses on the heartbreaking, tragic, yet incredibly brave accounts of people on that fateful day.

Featuring compelling performances by Chrisitan Clemenson, Cheyenne Jackson, David Basche and Peter Hermann, the movie, directed by Paul Greengrass, shows the courage and brevity of the passengers and crew on board. Like ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’, this movie follows the question of faith and an incredible battle of courage and determination.

3. Flight (2012)

When a menial mechanical malfunction makes the difference between life and death, commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker finds himself behind controls that could determine the difference between loss and life. Even when he manages to execute a miraculous crash land, it isn’t long before his problem with drugs and alcohol comes to the fore, and an investigation into the crash exposes his addiction, placing him in an arena of questionable morals.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film features a stellar cast comprising Denzel Washington, Kelly Reily, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood and John Goodman. It shows the solemn road to growth laden with personal choices. Like ‘On a Wing and a Prayer,’ the movie features profound epiphanies that have you question everything you stand for, making this the right movie to watch next.

2. Horizon Line (2020)

When ex-couple Sara and Jackson board a single-engine plane to head to a friend’s tropical island wedding, they suffer the worst of fates when their pilot undergoes a fatal heart attack, leaving the two in an unlikely situation where they must strive to survive. With zero knowledge of controls and miles of the Indian Ocean beneath, the protagonists find themselves in one disaster after another. Starring Allison Williams, Alexander Dreymon, and Keith David, the movie by directorial force Mikael Marcimain follows similar narratives and will be the perfect film to follow after you watch, ‘On a Wing and a Prayer.’

1. Sully: Miracle on the Hudson (2016)

The Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart starrer chronicles the true story of Captain Chesley Sullenberger and follows the emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River after a flock of geese strike the engine. Despite the crash landing undertaken by the co-pilots in the freezing waters of Hudson, all 155 passengers and crew survive the ordeal, making Captain Sully a national hero.

However, even though his quick thinking saved countless from a harrowing end, he’s still put under a grueling investigation that threatens his career and reputation. Filled with an imposing belief and a solemn resolve, the biographical drama by Clint Eastwood is the perfect film to watch after ‘On a Wing and a Prayer.’

Read More:  Is On a Wing and a Prayer Based on a True Story?

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4 Things Families Should Know about the Latest Kendrick Brothers Movie, ‘The Forge’

• Michael Foust Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
• Updated Aug 20, 2024

Isaiah is a young man who spends more time conquering virtual worlds than tackling the chores piling up around him. He's good at video games. He's not so good at being responsible. He forgot to wash the laundry. He didn't empty the trash or clean his room.

And now, after hours and hours in front of the screen …his mom is home. 

"I'm tired of having the same conversation over and over again," she tells him sternly. "You are 19 years old. That means it's time for you to step up."

She gives him an ultimatum: Get a job and pay rent, or find another place to live.

So, Isaiah takes the challenge head-on, submitting his application to a major employer, Moore Fitness, and gets hired. He even meets the CEO, Joshua Moore, who takes Isaiah under his wing, offering to mentor him twice a week before work and teach him life principles.

It's principles "that you could use no matter where you work," Moore says.

Isaiah enthusiastically agrees. Unfortunately, his bad habits are hard to break. Soon, he's playing video games late into the night. He's oversleeping. He's missing the opening bell at work. 

Will Isaiah ever get his life on track?

The new movie The Forge (PG) follows the story of Isaiah and Mr. Moore, who gives his new employee a second chance, convinced that Isaiah has the potential to transform his life.

Here are four things you should know about the film.

Photo Credit: © Sony

1. It's from the Makers of 'War Room' and 'Overcomer'

Two decades ago, filmmakers Alex and Stephen Kendrick (the "Kendrick brothers") forged a new path in the Christian film genre, demonstrating that a compelling and inspiring story can captivate audiences without needing a big budget -- and without a big-named Hollywood director at the helm.

Their first major film, Facing the Giants (2006), grossed $10.2 million on a $100,000 budget. They followed that with 2008's Fireproof  ($33 million on a $500,000 budget) and 2011's Courageous ($35 million gross; $2 million budget). Each film was better than the previous one. 

Their biggest hit was War Room (2015), which grossed $67 million on a $3 million budget and was the No. 1 movie in all of America in its second weekend, edging R-rated Straight Outta Compton .

Since then, they released Overcomer (2019) and Lifemark  (2022).

For most of the films, including The Forge , Alex is the director, and Stephen is the producer. The two men started in an Albany, Ga., congregation, believing and praying they could impact the world from small-town America. 

2. It's All about Discipleship

The Kendricks are known for their movies with a message, with War Room ( prayer ), Courageous (fatherhood), Fireproof (strong marriages), Overcomer (identity in Christ) and Lifemark  (adoption) all conveying distinct, focused messages that address key biblical teachings.

The Forge is all about biblical discipleship.

Mr. Moore's "life principles" involve biblical principles about kindness, responsibility, hard work, forgiveness, and grace. He even teaches him how to shake hands. 

"A big part of becoming a man is showing up," Moore tells him when he clocks in late. "... Get the rest you need, set your alarm, and give yourself the time to get here that shows respect for others."

Eventually, Isaiah becomes part of a discipleship group led by Moore, where he joins other men who are committed to modeling their lives after Christ. (The group is called "the Forge.”) We also see a group of women, led by a seasoned prayer warrior, sharing their life's trials and lifting them up to God. 

But Isaiah's journey toward Christlikeness is not without its challenges. The plot takes a dramatic turn when Isaiah encounters his estranged father, a man he deeply resents and holds responsible for many of his troubles.

The Kendricks hope to launch a discipleship movement within churches. In conjunction with the movie's release, small group Bible studies and discipleship-themed books are being released. 

"We don't need to see more lukewarm Christians in churches," Alex Kendrick told Crosswalk. "We need to see people that are devoted to Jesus that truly want to glorify and honor the Lord and walk more intimately with Him. This movie focuses on what that could look like."

3. It Includes a Few Familiar Faces

The Forge is a stand-alone film, but several characters from War Room  make brief appearances, including the prayer warrior, the indomitable Miss Clara (Karen Abercrombie), and the lead couple in that earlier film: Elizabeth Jordan (Priscilla Shirer) and Tony Jordan (T.C. Stallings). 

Elizabeth's twin sister, Cynthia Wright, is Isaiah's mom. Thanks to some clever movie magic, Shirer brings both characters to life. It's an impressive feat, seamlessly portraying the two women in the same shot as they converse and even share a hug.

"We took some notes from The Parent Trap and some other movies that have done it well," Stephen Kendrick told Crosswalk. "We had to do a combination of body doubles, CG effects -- there was some green screen stuff going on. A lot of digital love was added in those scenes. 

"It was fun," he added.

The film also stars Cameron Arnett ( Overcomer ) as Joshua Moore, former NFL star Benjamin Watson as a friend of Moore's, and Dallas Cowboys chaplain Jonathan Evans as another friend. 

Newcomer Aspen Kennedy, who plays Isaiah, is outstanding. 

4. It's Relevant for Today

The Forge is a coming-of-age film that smartly employs youth-focused music, including Christian hip-hop (CHH) artists such as Lecrae, Hulvey, Wande, and Aaron Cole and popular gospel/CCM musicians Tasha Cobbs-Leonard and For King & Country. The score perfectly matches the plot and mood. 

The film's discipleship message is more crucial than ever today, as survey after survey reveals that many churchgoers are embracing a range of unbiblical beliefs. For instance, the 2022 State of American Theology survey conducted by Lifeway Research for Ligonier Ministries found that 73 percent of Americans with evangelical beliefs believe the heresy that "Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God," and 57 percent affirm another heresy that "everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature." A failure in orthodoxy impacts orthopraxy. After all, you can't live out the gospel if you don't truly understand it. 

Perhaps the modern church has emphasized conversion at the expense of meaningful discipleship. 

"It's part of the Great Commission," Alex Kendrick said of discipleship, citing Matthew 28:19 . "We're supposed to go into all the world and make disciples." 

The movie's final moments show discipleship on display, with Isaiah embracing his faith and living out the gospel in his daily life. It's inspiring. 

The Forge is a much-needed film for today's church.

The Forge is rated PG for thematic elements. It contains no coarse language, sexuality, or violence.

Entertainment rating : 4 out of 5 stars.

Family-friendly rating : 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

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The Forge Movie Review: Authentic Community And Prayer

The faith journey is not for the faint of heart, especially in relationships. Walking in faith requires community and Biblical wisdom in marriage, parenting, and establishing lasting relationships with your extended family or friendship. In this article, I will share my thoughts on The Forge, a movie review.

The Difficult Reality Of Being A Christian Parent

The Forge shows the ups and downs of a single mom trying to launch her young adult son into the world. It also shows the importance of mentorship, friendship, prayer, and discipleship.

You will leave this movie wanting more for your life, faith, marriage, church, and community.

The beginning of The Forge tugged at this mama’s heart. As a mom of three young adults, I could relate to the dialogue. Cynthia Wright is a single mom to 19-year-old Isaiah Wright. In one of the beginning scenes, Cynthia is talking to Isaiah, and her frustration is palpable. I think we can all relate to this when it comes to dealing with the stage of launching your young adult into the world.

Having faith and parenting young adults is a whole new ballgame. I have never prayed more in my life and I have entered a new level of surrender in my walk with Jesus. The Forge portrays the struggle of being a Christian mother to a young adult so well. There is also a lot of guidance on what to do when you don’t know what to do in this highly complex season of life.

It is evident that being a Christian parent to a young adult requires:

• Faith and trust that God has good plans for your child and your family.
• Surrendering your will and control over the life of your child who has the same free will you have.
• Lots of prayer and prayer support from those around you.

God Has Good Plans For You And Me

God is the perfect Father, and his plans might not be ours. In The Forge, Cynthia quickly learns that she doesn’t have to parent her son alone and calls on her prayer partners. Cynthia is surrounded by friends and believers who want what is best for her and her son.

Being surrounded by people who pray for and believe in the best for your family is a blessing.

The Forge shows the viewer that to be a good friend , you need to pray for your friends, believe in your friends, and bless your friends with your words. It is so easy to get lost in the pain of this world, your life, and what you don’t have. However, The Forge shows us the value of wanting more for your life.

Growing Up Is Hard To Do If You Don’t Have Someone To Invest In You

In The Forge, we can see how to make time for mentorship despite life’s demands.  Additionally, we see the fruit the investment of time into someone else’s life will bring—not only in the mentee’s life but also in the mentor’s life.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. – John 15:16 (ESV)

As a Christian, your most extraordinary mission is to share the gospel and be fruitful. Every action you take, and word you speak will bear fruit. Understanding the seeds you are planting and the fruit you will bear from them is essential in determining your next steps in life.

In The Forge , Isaiah has difficulty growing up because he does not have a male role model to whom he can look up. However, as the story unfolds, we can see God working in his life and helping him become the man God created him to be. This is not done through one person or one prayer but through many prayers and many people planting seeds in his life that will bear good fruit.

Overcoming Excuses

The Forge is a movie with many lessons told in a two-hour time frame. One of the biggest lessons that stood out to me was to overcome the excuses in your life.

Overcome the excuses that are:

• Holding you back from serving God with your whole heart.
• Keeping you in a place that you don’t want to be.
• Preventing you from finding the relationships that are good for you.
• Building relationships and authentic community.
• Investing in and serving other people.

Life is undoubtedly busy and difficult, and there are many obstacles and trials to overcome. But the key is to find the purpose in the journey. The Forge shows us Isaiah’s journey to overcoming his excuses. He makes the effort to get rid of all that is holding him back from God’s best for him.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. Everyone who watches The Forge will gain new insight and ideas on living a fruitful life and building an authentic community.

The story was relatable, although there were moments that seemed unrealistic. While I believe in the power of mentorship and the need for discipleship, the viewer needs to keep an open mind on how that may play out in real life. I loved the idea of everyone in The Forge getting a sword; however, I think we can all lower our expectations and realize discipleship can be done in a small group hosted by our church. However, I appreciate the symbolism and the honor the writers of The Forge gave to the beauty of being in an authentic community of believers.

Like most movies, The Forge had drama and action built into every scene, making some of the events unrelatable. However, that does not take away from the fact that discipleship is important and necessary and will help us all become who God created us to be. It is essential to believe in yourself and others. Overall, the story of The Forge encouraged my heart, which will determine the next steps in my faith walk.

Kingdom Builders is participating in the ticket gifting program through Fandango. Click here to redeem a free promo code or gift a movie ticket to someone else.

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Ward McAfee

On a Wing and a Prayer

Teaching about World Religions

/ Article Archive

/ On a Wing and a Prayer

Publication Date

December 1, 1995

Perspectives Section

Teaching & Learning

Twenty years ago, when I first became interested in world religions, I had no academic background in the field and no clear idea of how to begin learning about the subject. I later discovered that Lao Tzu, the semimythical founder of Taoism, had offered sound advice: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

I took my first step in learning about world religions by reading as much as I could about all the world’s principal faith traditions. After a year of reading, I knew a little about a lot, and I began to offer a course on the subject. Now, as I look back, I wince at how little I actually had to impart to students, who sometimes knew far more than I about the faiths under review.

For the next several years, I investigated each, major faith tradition in depth. During this time, I also explored lesser-known religion. Judaism was studied in conjunction with Zoroastrianism (which helped shape development of Judaism after the Babylonian captivity). Hinduism was reviewed in relation to its ancient Vedic antecedents and the Upanishadic Reform of 800 to 500 B.C.E. Buddhism was studied in contrast to both Jainism (which began in India at roughly the same time as Buddhism [500 B.C.E.]) and the later Chinese influences of Confucianism and Taoism. Christianity was seen within the hothouse of Gnosticism, which dominated the Hellenistic world at the time of the former’s creation. Islam was studied with an eye toward how Hinduism and Islam eventually blended in Sikhism,

After completing a six-year study (while simultaneously teaching full time), I reflected on how each of these traditions had mystical expressions that all said essentially the same thing, At the risk of oversimplification, these mystical voices said that God (or Enlightenment) could only be discovered in the process of diminishing ego, Only by denying “self” could “Self” be found. As I had first become interested in the subject of religion after contracting a life-threatening disease in my early thirties (an experience that thoroughly humbled me), I knew this to be true. Sufism m Islam, Zen in Buddhism Advaita Vedanta and bhakti yoga in Hinduism and the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (whom Sufis call “The Seal of the Saints”) all speak to this same core teaching. In Judaism, kabbalism, for the esoteric few, and Hasidism, for many more, touch upon the same theme: the kingdom of God is at hand; the Messiah is in every moment; joy is even in life’s seemingly darkest moments.

I found this thread of unity among the world’s faiths intriguing. So often we are distracted by claims of exclusivity and examples of religious intolerance that we fail to recognize this arena of agreement. In apluralistic American classroom, I highlight this unity. With so much dividing our nation and our world, it is constructive to drawattention to that which binds us together,

“Education” comes from a Latin root meaning to lead out, “religion” from a Latin root meaning to bind. The two may seem to be diametrically opposed, but each ultimately strengthens and relies upon the other. Education (leading out) without any grounding ultimately leads to chaos. Religion (binding) without any educationwill lead to intolerance and genocide. In teaching about world religions, whether in specific courses devoted to the subject or in more general world civilization courses, I try to keep the purposes of both education and religion in tension, for the mutual benefit of both.

As should be obvious at this point, I do not treat the material in a disengaged manner. Religion is the very stuff of life and should be studied as such. It is necessarily subjective. While academic analysis definitely tends toward objectification, I think that it is important to avoid a sterile neutrality, I attempt to engage my material subjectively by regularly returning to the unifying theme of mysticism and the denial of selfishness in the world’s major faith traditions. All seekers, relying upon unprovable belief, are accommodated in this approach. Even atheists, whose position (as that of theists) rests upon belief, normally appreciate the societal benefits of diminishing individual selfishness. I do not proselytize in class, although the foregoing paragraph may suggest that I do. To proselytize necessitates an argumentative stance that would shut down a desirable open-ended educational experience as well as violate the American value of separation of church and state (l am on the payroll at a state university),

At the same time, I do not hide my own religious beliefs (I am a member of the United Methodist Church and am the spouse of a United Methodist minister), Students have a right to know their teachers’ orientations to life, especially in courses exploring religious or ideological belief systems, In class I emphasize to, students that I am not all knowing or all Wise. If I cannot answer a particular question I try to find the best answer supportable by historical evidence. I am a fellow seeker with my students, not some divinely appointed authority or expert placed above them. In this light, I am not afraid of saying, “I don’t know.”

My most common challenge in teaching world religions comes from Christian Fundamentalists, who upon hearing my paeans to mysticism frequently suspect I am motivated by some New Age guru lurking in the wings. They usually fear I am going to use logic or liberal United Methodist theology to attack their position, whereas in fact I have no such hidden agenda, I have found their opposition to be fed usually by a need for absolute certainty that is heightened in our most uncertain, unpredictable world. I do not treat such students as “the enemy.” To the contrary, I regard them as serious seekers. That they have placed themselves in a university classroom indicates they are open to the liberating vistas of education, while understandably they want to retain their own bedrock of faith.

One approach I use to establish successful communication with Christian Fundamentalists is to emphasize that their own faith tradition is founded upon inexplicable mystery, not human rationality, (In taking this approach, I throwaway the weapon—logic—that they fear I am going to use against them and, at the same time, hope to disabuse them of using similar weapons against my approach.) In drawing their attention to the traditional reliance of Christianity upon mystery, I might point out that the doctrine of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constituting One Godhead) is beyond rational explanation and resides in the realm of faith. Or I might talk about the inexplicable mystery involved in the unresolvable tension between the biblical concepts of individual freedom of choice (freewill) and of divine omniscience and omnipotence. St. Augustine, certainly a traditional voice in Christianity, sought to lay this apparent logical conflict to rest by claiming both exist simultaneously, but in a mysterious way not understandable by the rational mind (his “theory of divine concurrence”). Usually, this Bible-based approach keeps Fundamentalists open to the teaching orientation described above.

Another problem usually encountered with Fundamentalists is their ahistoric tendency to believe that their own faith tradition has not evolved over time but has always existed unchanged through the ages. For students who think their faith has remained static over the millennia, I offer the idea that God can use history as a potter molds clay into a finished work of beauty. This usually suffices and allows minds that otherwise would have remained closed to consider changing emphases in their own faith tradition. Finally, I explain the late 19th-century historical conditions that encouraged the emergence of modern Christian Fundamentalism.

I handle each faith tradition with an attitude of respect. Certainly, many ugly things have occurred in the name of religion throughout history. I do not ignore such occurrences, but neither do I dwell on them to the exclusion of what is finest. Along these lines, I focus on what I regard as the essence of each faith. For example, in Judaism, the importance of communal ethics is central. Specific ancient prohibitions against harvesting the comers of agricultural fields in order to leave the gleanings for the poor speak to this. Similarly, the stoning of sinners in ancient times reflects the belief that “one rotten apple can spoil an entire barrel,” and that the well-being of the barrel (the community) is ultimately more important than individual survival. Individual selfishness is confronted at every tum by specific commands in the Torah, or by specific elaborations in the Talmud. The individual is held to a community understanding that sets the boundaries of human existence and gives individual lives meaning.

In the modern liberated expression of Reform Judaism, the heritage of communal life continues. Even among those Jews who have rejected the notion of a personal godhead (as in the 20th-century American expression of Reconstructionism), communal life remains center stage. Peoples of other faiths or of no apparent faith need to be introduced to the beauties of this Jewish emphasis. Especially in our modem age, when individualism often threatens to destroy beauty and order, this nucleus of Judaism deserves to be held up for subjective appreciation.

In Hinduism, the admirable quality is tolerance. While the intolerant acts of Hindu mobs against Muslims on the Indian subcontinent are occasionally the subject of newspaper accounts, the fact remains that the dynamic that enables us to refer to Hinduism as one faith tradition is an unusual tolerance for the religious differences found among Hindus. In explaining the quality, it cannot be overemphasized that “Hinduism” is a Western construct meant to describe myriad harmonious religions on the Indian subcontinent. These religions span a spectrum that includes blood sacrifice all the way to monism (nondualistic philosophizing upon ultimate reality). What they hold in common is a negative perception of this world. Whereas Judaism teaches that worldly existence includes milk and honey, Hinduism emphasizes that the milk and honey only come in occasional drops, whereas vinegar and gall exist in abundance. Hindu eyes are fixed upon moksha, or liberation from this world of pain and misery (samsara). From their parable of the blind men and the elephant, Hindus learn to accept that everyone appreciates different aspects of “the elephant” of spiritual reality. Because of this tolerance, widely diverse approaches to working toward moksha are acceptable. Exclusivity, a characteristic common to Western religions, is foreign in the essentially tolerant Hindu world view.

If communal ethics areat the core of Judaism, and if tolerance binds the various faith traditions of Hinduism, the central focus of Buddhism is a practical program by which serenity may be achieved. Buddhism at least in its original teaching, doesnot rely upon gods or God but rather upon a “how to” method to achieve enlightenment. This orientation has made Buddhism popular within American culture, which places great value on programs concerning how to pursue happiness.

The central idea in Buddhism is that pain and craving (desire) are intimately linked. Therefore, to break the habit of living in a torture chamber, one must first diminish and then eliminate desires—including even the desire to be free of the torture chamber Given the practical emphasis of Buddhism, all things are possible within it-even worshipping the Buddha as a god, if that helps one diminish selfish craving by the act of devotion to another more powerful divine personality. The Buddha told his followers to be “lamps” unto themselves, to blaze their own trails to enlightenment, deviating even from his own apparent teachings in order to receive good results.

Unlike the Buddhist, the Christian is not an independent seeker but rather is totally dependent for salvation upon a martyred savior. If practicality is the essence of Buddhism, dependency marks the Christian. This dependency to a mysterious godhead fosters within the serious Christian a genuine attitude of humility, the admirable emphasis of Christianity. The stories of Christianity speak to this point. The brave Peter was broken in the self-realization of his own weakness. Those who are proud were told they would be the last into Christ’s kingdom. Legend regards a woman (and a former prostitute) as the first to see the risen Christ. Christian dependency is called for in two laws, given by Christ to his followers: 1) be dependent upon God and 2) meet the needs of one’s neighbors.

Jesus taught his followers not to be above being dependent. At his final meal with his disciples, he washed their feet. Peter recoiled, wanting to remain independent of such a humiliating rite. But Jesus told him that unless he was willing to submit to this practice, he could not be his follower. Christians were not only to be willing to have their feet washed, but also to wash the feet of others. They were to be willing to give up all worldly status and to live as servants of others. In this mystery they find salvation. The witness of Jesus himself, dependent upon the cross, suffering in agony before the silence of God, provides the model. “Pick up your cross and follow me,” Jesus told his followers.

Of all the world’s religions, Christianity is least amenable to the modem age, which celebrated independence and human power. It was well suited to the feudal Middle Ages, when obligations both upward toward lords and downward toward serfs characterized the social system. Capitalism produced abundance by breaking the obligations that fettered individual enterprise. The avarice that accompanied its growth could be harmonized with Jesus’s message and example only by increasing hypocrisies. Nevertheless, Christianity continues to thrive in regions where human misery abounds. There the essential message of dependency on both God and neighbor can still be heard.

Islam, founded by the Prophet Muhamad early in the seventh century, also emphasizes dependency, but in a different way from Christianity. The very word “Islam” means “to submit” and “Muslim” means “one who submits.” On the surface, submission and dependency may appear identical, as both involve a surrender of human ego. The difference lies in the fact that Muslim submission suggests a surrender to an established worldly order, whereas Christian dependency is a more fluid concept. Muhammad was a head of state as well as the head of a religion. Originally, a Muslim’s submission was to a theocracy. Beyond this historical meaning, Islam also suggests submission to a specific way of life, described in the Qur’an and elaborated upon in the Shari’ah (Islamic law). As such, Islam is an admirable religious system that demands that human humility be practiced daily, in concrete ways in the real world, such as praying five times each day by touching one’s head to the floor in a kneeling, submissive position. It requires human weakness to be experienced, as in fasting during the daylight hours of the holy month of Ramadan, not simply talked about as a spiritual virtue divorced fromreal living.

Holy War (jihad) was practiced during the lifetime of Muhammad and after, as a means of spreading the faith. Today, despite all Western attempts to compromise the issue, Israel’s existence keeps the fires of jihad burning. Muslims regard Jerusalem as Muslim holy ground, because it was from Jerusalem (the Qur’an informs the faithful) that Muhammad ascended into heaven on his mysterious night journey. Jews also regard Jerusalem as holy, since it was established over 1,600 years before Muhammad as King David’s capital city. Christians, too, hold Jerusalem dear, because Jerusalem was where Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the dead. Given the deep religious feelings involved, Jerusalem will continue to be a focal point of world conflict.

My goal in teaching about world religions is to get today’s students to appreciate the benefits of human history’s religious traditions. Throughout recorded time, humans have wrestled with fundamental questions relating to the origins of their existence and the mysteries of death. Various eschatologies (or theologies concerning how the world will end) usually succeed in winning student attention. Similarities in these visions, such as a rider of a pale horse marking the end of time in both Christian and Buddhist eschatologies, are intriguing. Differences are also interesting-such as the contrast between one beginning and one end in the Western religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and multiple creations and end times in Hindu theology.

For students, interest in how the world’s various religious traditions have affected gender relationships is especially high. The question of why bad things happen to good people (called “theodicy” by theologians) has always captured human interest. Different religious conceptions’ of human nature also can be used to generate meaningful class discussions. For example, Christianity assumes the inherent sinfulness of humans, whereas Buddhism assumes that human nature is essentially perfect, ignorance alone clouding its true being.

Teachers developing a proficiency in handling the history of the world’s great religions necessarily must blaze their own trails of discovery. They must, to paraphrase the Buddha’s words, be lamps unto themselves. In lighting the way, several extraordinarily good resources can be explored with profit. The books of Huston Smith, Ellis Rifkin, Adin Steinsaltz, Elie Weisel, Martin Marty, Kenneth Latourette, A.L. Basham, Richard C. Zaehner, EdwardConze, Kenneth Ch’en, Bernard Lewis, F.E. Peters, H.A.R. Gibb, and W.A. Watt are useful. All the books of Max Weber on religious topics are extraordinarily rich. Especially useful for beginners is a set of six separate books under the general editorship of Richard A. Gard, with the overall title of Great Religions of Modern Man (1962); they provide a blend of scriptures and narrative and assume that the reader unfamiliar with the subject. Specific titles in this set: Arthur Hertzberg, ed., Judaism; Louis Renou, ed., Hinduism; Richard Gard, ed., Buddhism; George Brantl, ed., Catholicism; J. Leslie Dunstan, ed., Protestantism; and John Alden Williams, ed., Islam. Vergilius Ferm, ed., Encyclopedia of Religion (1945) is a general reference work of great utility. Fiction can also inform the seeker in an almost painless way. Some interesting novels with religious themes are James A. Michener, The Source (1965), on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Hermann Hesse, Siddartha (1951), on Hinduism and Buddhism; Shusaku Endo, Silence (1982), on Christianity; and Naguib Mahfouz, Children of Gebelawi (1981), on Islam.

Ward McAfee is professor of history at California State University at San Bernardino and author of A History of the World's Great Religions (1983).

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Bill Skarsgard's The Crow Debuts With Disastrous Rotten Tomatoes Score

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The debut Rotten Tomatoes score has been revealed for The Crow , the latest adaptation of the original comic book by James O'Barr. Featuring Bill Skarsgard and FKA twigs in the lead roles, the new adaptation was directed by Rupert Sanders.

Shortly after the embargo lift for The Crow , the film debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a very low score of 6% . This number is likely to fluctuate a bit as more reviews continue to be submitted in the coming days, but with a rough debut score that's very close to rock bottom, it doesn't seem likely to climb much higher. The current score is a far cry from the one garnered by the original 1994 adaptation , which has an 86% approval rating along with a 90% audience score. An audience score hasn't yet been determined for the new version of The Crow , and there's a chance that it could be given a much higher number in comparison, as sometimes happens with critics and audiences.

The Crow Director Reveals How Bill Skarsgard and FKA twigs Landed Eric and Shelly Roles

Director Rupert Sanders shares the story of how Bill Skarsgard and FKA twigs landed their roles in The Crow.

The current score for the new film is obviously not great, but it's not the lowest of the franchise, sparing the new movie from hitting a new low fo rthe movie series. After the original film from 1994, the other installments of the franchise includes 1996's The Crow: City of Angels at 14% , 2000's The Crow: Salvation at 18% , and 2005's The Crow: Wicked Prayer at 0% . The reviews for the 2024 film may be mostly negative, but having any positive reviews at all has ensured that it will stay above Wicked Prayer ..

Critics Are Not Being Kind on 2024's The Crow

"Brandon Lee’s original was hard to shake because of his untimely demise. This forgettable new version doesn’t just fail to honor his memory -- it never justifies its existence on its own merits," reads one review by Tim Grierson of Screen International . David Rooney of THR also said of the film, " The Crow is a sluggish, overly self-serious gloomfest that never takes wing ."

Bill Skarsgard's The Crow Rating Teases a Much Bloodier Adaptation

The new adaptation of The Crow looks to be a bit more graphic than the 1994 movie.

Giving the film a score of 1 out of 5 stars, Guardian reviewer Benjamin Lee noted, " The Crow 2.0 is a total, head-in-hands disaster , incoherently plotted and sloppily made, destined to join the annals of the very worst and most pointless remakes ever made."

...destined to join the annals of the very worst and most pointless remakes ever made.

Directed by Rupert Sanders, The Crow is written by Zach Baylin and William Schneider. The film stars Bill Skarsgård, FKA twigs, Danny Huston, Josette Simon, Laura Birn, and Sami Bouajila.

The official synopsis for the movie reads, "Soulmates Eric (Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right."

The Crow officially premieres in theaters on Aug. 23, 2024.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

The Crow (2024)

A modern re-imagining of the beloved character, The Crow, based on the original graphic novel by James O'Barr.

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‘the crow’ review: lugubrious bill skarsgard reboot scarcely improves on the original’s disposable sequels.

Rupert Sanders goes back to the comic book series with a different take on the dark supernatural journey of love and revenge, also starring FKA Twigs and Danny Huston.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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'the crow' director rupert sanders clears up the misconception about his film's ending, bill skarsgard on his "bleak state of mind" while filming 'the crow': "i like to be consumed by it".

Proyas and his screenwriters zipped through the gruesome killings of soon-to-be-wed Shelly and Eric with disturbing montage flashes, allowing them to dive swiftly into the lurid fun of resurrection and bloody revenge.

Adapted by Zach Baylin and William Schneider from James O’Barr’s comic book series, the reboot — or whatever you want to call it — plods with numbing inefficiency through a snoozy preamble. It successfully establishes neither the instantly eternal love between Eric ( Bill Skarsgard ) and Shelly ( FKA Twigs ), nor the sinister fiend who cuts short their rapture.

In fact, the villainous side of things here barely makes sense. Vincent Roeg ( Danny Huston ) is a man of enormous wealth with a taste for pretty female pianists, which seems of interest only because we see Shelly doodling at a keyboard. He gets his kicks sending women to hell with a devilish whisper in their ear and a little blood contamination, prompting them to turn dead-eyed before committing suicide or murder.

In this version, Eric and Shelly meet in court-ordered rehab. She freaked out prior to her arrest when a friend sent her a video he secretly shot during a hangout that turned ugly and left her traumatized. The terrible events of that night are only suggested at first, but we know they are sufficiently incriminating to make Roeg want the video removed from circulation pronto. That leaves just enough time for Eric and Shelly to compare tattoos, develop incipient feelings for one another and escape rehab together when Roeg’s kill team, led by an elegant pair we’ll just call Fake Tilda Swinton and Fake Terence Stamp, track her down.

Holed up in a swanky pad conveniently left available to Shelly by a generous friend, the dreamy-eyed couple fall in love over stinky sex, a shared joint in the bathtub, pills, champagne and lots of ecstatic canoodling wrapped in gauzy white drapes. But they forget about Roeg’s resourcefulness long enough to picnic by the river, stroll around town and hit a dance club. Love is less blind than stupid, in this case.

When Eric and Shelly get home, they find Roeg’s hitmen waiting for them. Sanders and the writers have wisely scrapped the sadistic rape element from the first movie and show less interest in sensationalizing the murders. It’s probably the last smart decision they make.

Here, Eric’s afterlife revenge odyssey begins in a swampy industrial wasteland between heaven and hell where an enigmatic character named Kronos (Sami Bouajila) reads him the rule book. The crows hanging about, caw-cawing up a racket, are tasked with carrying souls to the land of the dead. But Eric has unfinished business. “The crow will guide you to put the wrong things right,” Kronos tells him.

The image of Brandon Lee in body-hugging black leather and spandex under a fabulous trench coat that looked like it came off a Thierry Mugler runway, with a whopping great bird perched on his shoulder like some goth pirate, is so iconic that trying to replicate it would have been crazy.

As Skarsgard’s Eric and his mullet prowl the city picking off Roeg’s stooges in increasingly gory ways, he’s more often shirtless to display his chiseled torso and extensive body ink. At one point, a would-be assassin even obliges by tearing off Eric’s sweaty T-shirt during a blood-drenched clash. I almost shouted, “Ooh, girl, behave!”

There’s nothing about the walking-dead avenger (or the performance) to hold your interest through a lot of rote stabbing and chopping and shooting and skull-smashing. Nor is there even any flying out of windows until a double dive near the end.

There’s more back and forth and renegotiation with Kronos that doesn’t add much beyond allowing Eric to cry inky black tears and ultimately providing the vaguest of explanations for Roeg’s malevolence and its connection to Kronos’ suspended state. But the overload of otherworldly claptrap just dulls the already minimal involvement in the all-consuming love story that’s supposed to be the driving force.

DP Steve Annis shoots the movie like a series of music videos, which perhaps was intended to honor the screen adaptation’s ‘90s roots but instead just fudges the intersection between reality and the supernatural in dreary ways. Twigs and Bouajila do what’s required of them but can’t make their characters memorable, while Huston’s dark lord routine is borderline silly, more the script’s fault than the actor’s.

The Crow is a sluggish, overly self-serious gloomfest that never takes wing. Given the long string of directors and lead actors attached to the project over its 16 years of on-off development, the overworked, lifeless result should be no surprise. I suppose at least we were spared the Mark Wahlberg version.

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